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MAIN 


•RUSTEES  OF  THE  JOHN  F.  SLATER  FUND 
OCCASIONAL  PAPERS,  No.  3 


EDUCATION  OF  THE  NEGROES 


SINCE   1860 


BY 


J.  L.  M.  CURRY,  LL.  D. 

Secretary  of  the  Trustees  of  the  John  F.  Slater  Fund 


BALTIMORE 

PUBLISHED  BY  THE  TRUSTEES 
1894 


Price    -»«: 


THE  TRUSTEES  OF  THE  JOHN  F.  SLATER  FUND 
OCCASIONAL  PAPERS,  No.  3 


EDUCATION  OF  THE  NEGROES 


SINCE   1860 


BY 


J.  L.  M.  CURRY,  LL.  D. 

Secretary  of  the  Trustees  of  the  John  F.  Slater  Fund 


BALTIMORE 

PUBLISHED  BY  THE  TRUSTEES 
1894 


Price   -t?    Cen+ 


THE  TRUSTEES  OF  THE  JOHN   F.  SLATER  FUND 

OCCASIONAL  PAPERS,  No.  3 


EDUCATION  OF  THE  NEGROES 


SINCE   1860 


BY 


J.  L.  M.  CURRY,  LL.  D. 

Secretary  of  the  Trustees  of  the  John  F.  Slater  Fund 


BALTIMORE 

PUBLISHED   BY  THE  TRUSTEES 
1894 


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Northern  Micrographics,  Inc. 

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ANNOUNCEMENT. 


The  Trustees  of  the  John  F.  Slater  Fund  propose  to  publish  from  time  to 
time  papers  that  relate  to  the  education  of  the  colored  race.  These  papers 
are  designed  to  furnish  information  to  those  who  are  concerned  in  the  ad 
ministration  of  schools,  and  also  to  those  who  by  their  official  stations  are 
called  upon  to  act  or  to  advise  in  respect  to  the  care  of  such  institutions. 

The  Trustees  believe  that  the  experimental  period  in  the  education  of 
the  blacks  is  drawing  to  a  close.  Certain  principles  that  were  doubted  thirty 
years  ago  now  appear  to  be  generally  recognized  as  sound.  In  the  next 
thirty  years  better  systems  will  undoubtedly  prevail,  and  the  aid  of  the 
separate  States  is  likely  to  be  more  and  more  freely  bestowed.  There  will 
also  be  abundant  room  for  continued  generosity  on  the  part  of  individuals 
and  associations.  It  is  to  encourage  and  assist  the  workers  and  the  thinkers 
that  these  papers  will  be  published. 

Each  paper,  excepting  the  first  number  (made  up  chiefly  of  official  docu 
ments),  will  be  the  utterance  of  the  writer  whose  name  is  attached  to  it, 
the  Trustees  disclaiming  in  advance  all  responsibility  for  the  statement  of 
facts  and  opinions. 


EDUCATION  OF  THE  NEGROES 
SINCE  1860. 


INTRODUCTION. 

The  purpose  of  this  paper  is  to  put  into  permauent  form  a 
narrative  of  what  has  been  done  at  the  South  for  the  educa 
tion  of  the  negro  since  1860.  The  historical  and  statistical 
details  may  seem  dry  and  uninteresting,  but  we  can  under 
stand  the  significance  of  this  unprecedented  educational  move 
ment  only  by  a  study  of  its  beginnings  and  of  the  difficulties 
which  had  to  be  overcome.  The  present  generation,  near  as 
it  is  to  the  genesis  of  the  work,  cannot  appreciate  its  magni 
tude,  nor  the  greatness  of  the  victory  which  has  been  achieved, 
without  a  knowledge  of  the  facts  which  this  recital  gives  in 
connected  order.  The  knowledge  is  needful,  also,  for  a  com 
prehension  of  the  future  possible  scope  and  kind  of  education 
to  be  given  to  the  Afro-American  race.  In  the  field  of  edu 
cation  we  shall  be  unwise  not  to  reckon  with  such  forces  as 
custom,  physical  constitution,  heredity,  racial  characteristics 
and  possibilities,  and  not  to  remember  that  these  and  other 
causes  may  determine  the  limitations  under  which  we  must 
act.  The  education  of  this  people  has  a  far-reaching  and 
complicated  connection  with  their  destiny,  with  our  institu 
tions,  and  possibly  with  the  Dark  Continent,  which  may 
assume  an  importance  akin,  if  not  superior,  to  what  it  had 
centuries  ago.  The  partition  of  its  territory,  the  international 
questions  which  are  springing  up,  and  the  effect  of  contact 
with  and  government  by  a  superior  race,  must  necessarily  give 
an  enhanced  importance  to  Africa  as  a  factor  in  commerce,  in 
relations  of  governments,  and  in  civilization.  England  will 
soon  have  an  unbroken  line  of  territorial  possessions  from 

5 


6  EDUCATION   OF   THE   NEGROES   SINCE    1860. 

Egypt  to  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.  Germany,  France,  Por 
tugal,  Italy,  Spain,  possibly  Russia,  will  soon  have  such  foot 
holds  in  Africa  as,  whatever  else  may  occur,  will  tend  to  the 
development  of  century-paralyzed  resources. 

What  other  superior  races  have  done,  and  are  doing,  for 
the  government  and  uplifting  of  the  inferior  races,  which, 
from  treaty  or  conquest,  have  been  placed  under  their  respon 
sible  jurisdiction,  may  help  in  the  solution  of  our  problem- 
Italy  had  a  grand  question  in  its  unification  ;  Prussia  a  graver 
one  in  the  nationalization  of  Germany,  taxing  the  statesman 
ship  of  Stein,  Bismarck,  and  their  co-laborers  ;  Great  Britain, 
in  the  administration  of  her  large  and  widely  remote  colonial 
dependencies  with  their  different  races ;  but  our  problem  has 
peculiar  difficulties  which  have  not  confronted  other  govern 
ments,  and  therefore  demands  the  best  powers  of  philanthro 
pist,  sociologist,  and  statesman. 

The  emergence  of  a  nation  from  barbarism  to  a  general 
diffusion  of  intelligence  and  property,  to  health  in  the  social 
\nd  civil  relations;  the  development  of  an  inferior  race  into 
a  high  degree  of  enlightenment ;  the  overthrow  of  customs 
and  institutions  which,  however  indefensible,  have  their  seat 
in  tradition  and  a  course  of  long  observance;  the  working  out 
satisfactorily  of  political,  sociological,  and  ethical  problems — 
are  all  necessarily  slow,  requiring  patient  and  intelligent  study 
of  the  teachings  of  history  and  the  careful  application  of 
something  more  than  mere  empirical  methods.  Civilization, 
freedom,  a  pure  religion,  are  not  the  speedy  outcome  of  revo 
lutions  and  cataclysms  any  more  than  has  been  the  structure 
of  the  earth.  They  are  the  slow  evolution  of  orderly  and 
creative  causes,  the  result  of  law  and  preordained  principles. 

The  educational  work  described  in  this  paper  has  been  most 
valuable,  but  it  has  been  so  far  necessarily  tentative  and  local. 
It  has  lacked  broad  and  definite  generalization,  and,  in  all  its 
phases,  comprehensive,  philosophical  consideration.  As  aux 
iliary  to  a  thorough  study  and  ultimate  better  plans,  the  Slater 
Fund,  from  time  to  time,  will  have  prepared  and  published 
papers  bearing  on  different  phases  of  the  negro  question. 


EDUCATION   OF   THE   NEGROES   SINCE    1860. 


I.  The  history  of  the  negro  on  this  continent  is  full  of 
pathetic  and  tragic  romance,  and  of  startling,  unparalleled 
incident.     The  seizure  in  Africa,  the  forcible  abduction  and 
cruel  exportation,  the  coercive  enslavement,  the  subjection  to 
environments  which  emasculate  a  race  of  all  noble  aspirations 
and  doom  inevitably  to  hopeless   ignorance  and  inferiority, 
living  in  the  midst  of  enlightenments  and  noblest  civilization 
and  yet  forbidden  to  enjoy  the  benefits  of  which  others  were 
partakers,  for  four  years  amid  battle  and  yet,  for  the  most 
part,  having  no  personal  share  in  the  conflict,  by  statute  and 
organic  law  and  law  of  nations  held  in  fetters  and  inequality, 
and  then,  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye,  lifted  from  bondage  to 
freedom,   from   slavery  to   citizenship,   from  dependence  on 
others  and  guardianship  to  suffrage  and  eligibility  to  office — 
can  be  predicated  of  no  other  race.     Other  peoples,  after  long 
and  weary  years  of  discipline  and  struggle,  against  heaviest 
odds,  have  won   liberty   and  free  government.      This  race, 
almost  without  lifting  a  hand,  unappreciative  of  the  boon 
except  in  the  lowest  aspects  of  it,  and  unprepared  for  privi 
leges  and  responsibilities,  has  been  lifted  to  a  plane  of  citizen 
ship  and  freedom,  such  as  is  enjoyed,  in  an  equal  degree,  by 
no  people  in  the  world  outside  of  the  United  States. 

Common  schools  in  all  governments  have  been  a  slow 
growth,  reluctantly  conceded,  grudgingly  supported,  and  per 
fected  after  many  experiments  and  failures  and  with  heavy 
pecuniary  cost.  Within  a  few  years  after  emancipation,  free 
and  universal  education  has  been  provided  for  the  negro, 
without  cost  to  himself,  and  chiefly  by  the  self-imposed  taxes 
of  those  who,  a  few  years  before,  claimed  his  labor  and  time 
without  direct  wage  or  pecuniary  compensation. 

II.  Slavery,  recognized  by  the  then  international  law  and 
the  connivance  and  patronage  of  European  sovereigns,  existed 
in  all  the  colonies  prior  to  the  Declaration  of  Independence, 
and  was  reinforced  by  importation  of  negroes  from  Africa 


8  EDUCATION   OF   THE   NEGROES   SINCE    1860. 

in  foreign  and  New  England  and  New  York  vessels.  In 
course  of  time  it  was  confined  to  the  Southern  States,  and 
the  negroes  increased  in  numbers  at  a  more  rapid  rate  than 
did  the  whites,,  even  after  the  slave  trade  was  abolished  and 
declared  piracy. 

For  a  long  time  there  was  no  general  exclusion  by  law  of 
the  slaves  from  the  privileges  of  education.  The  first  pro 
hibitory  and  punitive  laws  were  directed  against  unlawful 
assemblages  of  negroes,  and  subsequently  of  free  negroes  and 
mnlattoes,  as  their  influence  in  exciting  discontent  or  insur 
rection  was  deprecated  and  guarded  against.  Afterwards, 
legislation  became  more  general  in  the  South,  prohibiting 
meetings  for  teaching  reading  and  writing.  The  Nat  Turner 
insurrection  in  Southampton  County,  "Virginia,  in  1831, 
awakened  the  Southern  States  to  a  consciousness  of  the  perils, 
which  might  environ  or  destroy  them,  from  combinations  of 
excited,  inflamed,  and  ill-advised  negroes. 

/  /  o 

As  documents  and  newspapers  tending  to  inflame  discontent 
and  insurrection  were  supposed  to  have  been  the  immediate 
provocation  to  this  conspiracy  for  murder  of  whites  and  for 
freedom  of  the  blacks,  laws  were  passed  against  publishing 
and  circulating  such  documents  among  the  colored  popula 
tion,  and  strengthening  the  prohibitions  and  penalties  against 
education. 

Severe  and  general  as  were  these  laws,  they  rarely  applied, 
and  were  seldom,  if  ever,  enforced,  against  teaching  of  indi 
viduals  or  of  groups  on  plantations,  or  at  the  homes  of  the 
owners.  Tt  was  often  true  that  the  mistress  of  a  household, 
or  her  children,  would  teach  the  house  servants,  and  on  Sun 
days  include  a  larger  number.  There  were  also  Sunday 
Schools  in  which  black  children  were  taught  to  read,  notably 
the  school  in  which  Stonewall  Jackson  was  a  leader.  It  is 
pleasant  to  find  recorded  in  the  memoir  of  Dr.  Boyce,  a 
Trustee  of  this  Fund  from  its  origin  until  his  death,  that,  as 
an  editor,  a  preacher,  and  a  citizen,  he  was  deeply  interested 
in  the  moral  and  religious  instruction  of  the  negroes. 


EDUCATION   OF   THE   NEGROES   SINCE    1860.  9 

After  a  most  liberal  estimate  for  the  efforts  made  to  teach  the 
negroes,  still  the  fact  exists  that,  as  a  people,  they  were  wholly 
uneducated  in  schools.  Slavery  doomed  the  millions  to  igno 
rance,  and  in  this  condition  they  were  when  the  war  began. 

III.  Almost  synchronously  with  the  earliest  occupation  of 
any  portion  of  the  seceding  States  by  the  Union  Army,  efforts 
were  begun  to  give  the  negroes  some  schooling.  In  Septem 
ber,  1861,  under  the  guns  of  Fortress  Monroe,  a  school  was 
opened  for  the  "contrabands  of  war."  In  1862,  schools  were 
extended  to  Washington,  Portsmouth,  Norfolk,  and  Newport 
News,  and  afterwards  to  the  Port  Koyal  islands  on  the  coast 
of  South  Carolina,  to  Newbern  and  Roanoke  Island  in  North 
Carolina.  The  proclamation  of  emancipation,  January  1, 
1863,  gave  freedom  to  all  slaves  reached  by  the  armies,  in 
creased  the  refugees,  and  awakened  a  fervor  of  religious  and 
philanthropic  enthusiasm  for  meeting  the  physical,  moral,  and 
intellectual  wants  of  those  suddenly  thrown  upon  charity.  In 
October,  1863,  General  Banks,  then  commanding  the  Depart 
ment  of  the  Gulf,  created  commissioners  of  enrollment,  who 
established  the  first  public  schools  for  Louisiana.  Seven  were 
soon  in  operation,  with  twenty-three  teachers  and  an  average 
attendance  of  1422  scholars.  On  March  22,  1864,  he  issued 
General  Order,  No.  38,  which  constituted  a  Board  of  Educa 
tion  "  for  the  rudimental  instruction  of  the  freedmen"  in  the 
Department,  so  as  to  "  place  within  their  reach  the  elements 
of  knowledge." 

The  Board  was  ordered  to  establish  common  schools,  to 
employ  teachers,  to  acquire  school  sites,  to  erect  school  build 
ings  where  no  proper  or  available  ones  for  school  purposes 
existed,  to  purchase  and  provide  necessary  books,  stationery, 
apparatus,  and  a  well  selected  library,  to  regulate  the  course 
of  studies,  and  "to  have  the  authority  and  perform  the  same 
duties  that  assessors,  supervisors,  and  trustees  had  in  the 
Northern  States  in  the  matter  of  establishing  and  conducting 
common  schools."  For  the  performance  of  the  duties  enjoined, 


10      EDUCATION  OF  THE  NEGROES  SINCE  1860. 

the  Board  was  empowered  to  "  assess  and  levy  a  school  tax 
upon  real  and  personal  property,  including  crops  of  planta 
tions."  These  taxes  were  to  be  sufficient  to  defray  expense 
and  cost  of  establishing,  furnishing,  and  conducting  the  schools 
for  the  period  of  one  year.  When  the  tax  list  and  schedules 
should  be  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  Parish  Provost  Marshal, 
he  was  to  collect  and  pay  over  within  thirty  days  to  the  School 
Board.  Schools  previously  established  were  transferred  to 
this  Board  ;  others  were  opened,  and  in  December,  1864,  they 
reported  under  their  supervision  95  schools,  162  teachers,  and 
9,571  scholars.  This  system  continued  until  December,  1865, 
when  the  power  to  levy  the  tax  was  suspended.  An  official 
report  of  later  date  says  :  "  In  this  sad  juncture  the  freedmen 
expressed  a  willingness  to  endure  and  even  petitioned  for 
increased  taxation  in  order  that  means  for  supporting  their 
schools  might  be  obtained." 

On  December  17,  1862,  Col.  John  Eaton  was  ordered  by 
General  Grant  to  assume  a  general  supervision  of  freedmen  in 
the  Department  of  Tennessee  and  Arkansas.  In  the  early 
autumn  of  that  year  schools  had  been  established,  and  they 
were  multiplied  during  1863  and  1864.  In  the  absence  of 
responsibility  and  supervision  there  grew  up  abuses  and  com 
plaints.  By  some  "  parties  engaged  in  the  work  "  of  educa 
tion,  "exorbitant  charges  were  made  for  tuition,"  and  agents 
and  teachers,  "  instead  of  making  common  cause  for  the  good 
of  those  they  came  to  benefit,  set  about  detracting,  perplexing, 
and  vexing  each  other."  "  Parties  and  conflicts  had  arisen." 
"  Frauds  had  appeared  in  not  a  few  instances — evil  minded, 
irresponsible,  or  incompetent  persons  imposing  upon  those  not 
prepared  to  defeat  or  check  them."  "  Bad  faith  to  fair  prom 
ises  had  deprived  the  colored  people  of  their  just  dues."  l 

On  September  26,  1864,  the  Secretary  of  War,  through 
Adjutant  General  Thomas,  issued  Order  No.  28,  in  which  he 
said  :  "  To  prevent  confusion  and  embarrassment,  the  General 

1  See  report  of  Chaplain  Warren,  18G4,  relating  to  colored  schools. 


EDUCATION   OF   THE   NEGROES   SINCE    1860.  11 

Superintendent  of  Freedmen  will  designate  officers,  subject  to 
his  orders,  as  Superintendents  of  colored  schools,  through 
whom  he  will  arrange  the  location  of  all  schools,  teachers, 
occupation  of  houses,  and  other  details  pertaining  to  the 
education  of  the  freedmen."  In  accordance  with  this  order, 
Col.  Eaton  removed  his  headquarters  from  Vicksburg  to 
Memphis.  On  October  20,  1864,  he  issued  sixteen  rules 
and  regulations  for  the  guidance  of  superintendents  and 
teachers  of  colored  schools  in  his  supervision.  These  instruc 
tions  to  subordinates  were  wise  and  provided  for  the  open 
ing  of  a  sufficient  number  of  schools,  for  the  payment  of 
tuition  fees  from  25  cents  to  $1.25  per  month  for  each  scholar, 
according  to  the  ability  of  the  parents ;  for  the  admission  free 
of  those  who  could  not  pay  and  the  furnishing  of  clothing  by 
the  aid  of  industrial  schools,  for  the  government  of  teachers 
in  connection  with  the  societies  needing  them,  &c.  The 
"  industrial  schools  "  were  schools  in  which  sewing  was  taught, 
and  in  which  a  large  quantity  of  the  clothing  and  material 
sent  from  the  North  was  made  over  or  made  up  for  freedmen's 
use,  and  were  highly  "  useful  in  promoting  industrious  habits 
and  in  teaching  useful  arts  of  housewifery."  The  supervision 
under  such  a  competent  head  caused  great  improvement  in  the 
work,  but  department  efforts  were  hindered  by  some  repre 
sentatives  of  the  benevolent  societies  who  did  not  heartily 
welcome  the  more  orderly  military  supervision.  An  Assistant 
Superintendent,  March  31,  1865,  reports,  in  and  around 
Vicksburg  and  Natchez,  30  schools,  60  teachers,  and  4,393 
pupils  enrolled ;  in  Memphis,  1,590  pupils,  and  in  the  entire 
supervision,  7,360  in  attendance. 

General  Eaton  submitted  a  report  of  his  laborious  work 
which  is  full  of  valuable  information.  Naturally,  some  abate 
ment  must  be  made  from  conclusions  which  were  based  on  the 
wild  statements  of  excited  freedmen,  or  the  false  statements  of 
interested  persons.  "  Instinct  of  unlettered  reason  "  caused  a 
hegira  of  the  blacks  to  camps  of  the  Union  Army,  or  within 
protected  territory.  The  "  negro  population  floated  or  was 


12  EDUCATION   OF   THE   NEGROES   SINCE    1860. 

kicked  about  at  will."  Strict  supervision  became  urgent  to 
secure  "  contraband  information  "  and  service,  and  protect  the 
ignorant,  deluded  people  from  unscrupulous  harpies.  "  Men 
tal  and  moral  enlightenment "  was  to  be  striven  for,  even  in 
those  troublous  times,  and  it  was  fortunate  that  so  capable  and 
faithful  an  officer  as  General  Eaton  was  in  authority. 

All  the  operations  of  the  supervisors  of  schools  did  not  give 
satisfaction,  for  the  Inspector  of  Schools  in  South  Carolina 
and  Georgia,  on  October  13,  1865,  says:  "The  Bureau  does 
not  receive  that  aid  from  the  Government  and  Government 
officials  it  had  a  right  to  expect,  and  really  from  the  course 
of  the  military  officials  in  this  Department,  you  might  think 
that  the  only  enemies  to  the  Government  are  the  agents  of 
the  Bureau." 

IV.  By  act  of  Congress  of  March  3, 1865,  the  Freedmen's 
Bureau  was  created.  The  scope  of  its  jurisdiction  and  work 
extended  far  beyond  education.  It  embraced  abandoned  lands 
and  the  supply  of  the  negroes  with  food  and  clothing,  and  dur 
ing  1865  as  many  as  148,000  were  reported  as  receiving  rations. 
The  Quartermaster  and  Commissary  Departments  were  placed 
at  the  service  of  the  agents  of  the  Bureau,  and,  in  addition  to 
freedom,  largesses  were  lavishly  given  to  "reach  the  great 
and  imperative  necessities  of  the  situation."  Large  and  com 
prehensive  powers  and  resources  were  placed  in  the  hands  of 
the  Bureau,  and  limitations  of  the  authority  of  the  Govern 
ment  were  disregarded  in  order  to  meet  the  gravest  problem  of 
the  century.  Millions  of  recently  enslaved  negroes,  home 
less,  penniless,  ignorant,  were  to  be  saved  from  destitution  or 
perishing,  to  be  prepared  for  the  sudden  boon  of  political 
equality,  to  be  made  self-supporting  citizens  and  to  prevent 
their  freedom  from  becoming  a  curse  to  themselves  and  their 
liberators.  The  Commissioner  was  authorized  "to  seize,  hold, 
use,  lease,  or  sell  all  buildings  and  tenements  and  any  lands 
appertaining  to  the  same,  or  otherwise  formally  held,  under 
color  of  title  by  the  late  Confederate  States,  and  buildings  or 


EDUCATION  OF  THE  NEGROES  SINCE  1860.      13 

lands  held  in  trust  for  the  same,  and  to  use  the  same,  or 
appropriate  the  proceeds  derived  therefrom,  to  the  education 
of  the  freed  people."  He  was  empowered  also  to  "  cooperate 
with  private  benevolent  associations  in  aid  of  the  freedmen." 
The  Bureau  was  attached  to  the  War  Department  and  was  at 
first  limited  in  duration  to  one  year,  but  was  afterwards  pro 
longed.  General  O.  O.  Howard  was  appointed  Commissioner, 
with  assistants.  He  says  he  was  invested  with  "  almost  un 
limited  authority  "  and  that  the  act  and  orders  gave  "  great 
scope  and  liberty  of  action."  "Legislative,  judicial,  and 
executive  powers  were  combined,  reaching  all  the  interests 
of  the  freedmen."  On  June  2,  1865,  the  President  ordered 
all  officers  of  the  United  States  to  turn  over  to  the  Bureau 
"all  property,  funds,  lands,  and  records  in  any  way  connected 
with  freedmen  and  refugees."  This  bestowment  of  despotic 
power  was  not  considered  unwise  because  of  the  peculiar 
exigencies  of  the  times  and  the  condition  of  the  freedmen, 
who,  being  suddenly  emancipated  by  a  dynamic  process,  were 
without  schools,  or  teachers,  or  means  to  procure  them.  To 
organize  the  work,  a  Superintendent  of  Schools  was  ap 
pointed  for  each  State.  Besides  the  regular  appropriation  by 
Congress,  the  Military  authorities  aided  the  Bureau.  Trans 
portation  was  furnished  to  teachers,  books,  and  school  furni 
ture,  and  material  aid  was  given  to  all  engaged  in  education. 
General  Howard  used  his  large  powers  to  get  into  his 
custody  the  funds  scattered  in  the  hands  of  many  officers, 
which  could  be  made  available  for  the  freedmen.  Funds 
bearing  different  names  were  contributed  to  the  work  of 
"colored  education."1  During  the  war  some  of,  the  States 
sent  money,  to  officers  serving  in  the  South,  to 'buy  substi 
tutes  from  among  the  colored  people  to  fill  up  their  quota 
under  the  draft.  A  portion  of  the  bounty  money  thus 
sent,  by  an  order  of  Gen.  B.  F.  Butler,  August  4,  1864, 
was  retained  in  the  hands  of  officers  who  had  been  superin- 

1  See  Spec.  Ed.  Eep.,  District  of  Columbia,  p.  259. 


14  EDUCATION   OF   THE    NEGROES   SINCE    1860. 

tendents  of  negro  affairs,  and  by  the  President's  order  of 
June  2,  1865  Avas  turned  over  to  the  disbursing  officers  of 
the  Bureau  of  Freedmen.  After  the  organization  of  the 
Bureau,  Gen.  Howard  instructed  agents  to  turn  money, 
held  by  them,  over  to  the  chief  disbursing  officer  of  the 
Bureau.  This  was  in  no  sense  public  money,  but  belonged 
to  individuals,  enlisted  as  contraband  recruits  to  fill  the 
State  quotas.  What  was  unclaimed  of  what  was  held  in 
trust  under  Gen.  Butler's  order  was  used  for  educational 
purposes. 

In  the  early  part  of  1867,  the  accounting  officers  of  the 
Treasury  Department  ascertained  that  numerous  frauds  were 
being  perpetrated  on  colored  claimants  for  bounties  underacts 
of  Congress.  Advising  with  General  Howard,  the  Treasury 
officials  drew  a  bill,  which  Congress  enacted  into  a  law, 
devolving  upon  the  Commissioner  the  payment  of  bounties  to 
colored  soldiers  and  sailors.  This  enlarged  responsibility  gave 
much  labor  to  General  Howard,  in  his  already  multifarious 
and  difficult  duties,  and  made  more  honorable  the  acquittal 
which  he  secured  when  an  official  investigation  was  subse- 

O 

quently  ordered  upon  his  administration  of  the  affairs  of  the 
Bureau. 

The  Act  of  Congress  of  July  16,  1866,  gave  a  local  fund, 
which  was  expended  in  the  district  in  which  it  accrued,  and 
besides  there  were  general  appropriations  for  the  support  of 
the  Bureau,  which  were,  in  part,  available  for  schools. 

Mr.  Ingle,  writing  of  school  affairs  in  the  District  in  1867 
and  1868,  says  : 

"  Great  aid  was  given  at  this  period  by  the  Freedmen's 
Bureau,  which,  not  limiting  its  assistance  to  schools  for  pri 
mary  instruction,  did  much  toward  establishing  Howard  Uni 
versity,  in  which  no  distinction  was  made  on  account  of  race, 
color,  or  sex,  though  it  had  originally  been  intended  for  the 
education  of  negro  men  alone." 

The  monograph  of  Edward  Ingle  on  "  The  Negro  in  the 
District  of  Columbia" — one  of  the  valuable  Johns  Hopkins 


EDUCATION  OF  THE  NEGROES  SINCE  1860.       15 

University  Studies — gives  such  a  full  and  easily  accessible 
account  of  the  education  of  the  negroes  in  the  District,  that  it 
is  needless  to  enlarge  the  pages  of  this  paper  by  a  repetition 
of  what  he  has  so  satisfactorily  done. 

The  Bureau  found  many  schools  in  localities  which  had 
been  within  the  lines  of  the  Union  armies,  and  these,  with  the 
others  established  by  its  agency,  were  placed  under  more  sys 
tematic  supervision.  In  some  States,  schools  were  carried  on 
entirely  by  aid  of  the  funds  of  the  Bureau,  but  it  had  the 
cooperation  and  assistance  of  various  religious  and  benevolent 
societies.  On  July  1,  1866,  Mr.  Alvord,  Inspector  of  Schools 
and  Finances,  reported  975  schools  in  fifteen  States  and  the 
District,  1,405  teachers,  and  90,778  scholars.  He  mentioned 
as  worthy  of  note  a  change  of  sentiment  among  better  classes 
in  regard  to  freed  men's  schools,  and  that  the  schools  were 
steadily  gaining  in  numbers,  attainments,  and  general  influence. 
On  January  17,  1867,  General  Howard  reports  to  the  Secre 
tary  of  War  $115,261.56  as  used  for  schools,  and  the  Quar 
termaster's  Department  as  still  rendering  valuable  help. 
Education  "  was  carried  on  vigorously  during  the  year,"  a 
better  feeling  prevailing,  and  150,000  freedmen  and  children 
"  occupied  earnestly  in  the  study  of  books."  The  taxes,  which 
had  been  levied  for  schools  in  Louisiana,  under  the  adminis 
tration  of  T.  W.  Conway,  had  been  discontinued,  but  $500,000 
were  asked  for  schools  and  asylums.  In  1867,  the  Govern 
ment  appointed  Generals  Steedman  and  Fullerton  as  Inspect 
ors,  and  from  General  Howard's  vehement  reply  to  their 
report — which  the  War  Department  declines  to  permit  an 
inspection  of — it  appears  that  their  criticisms  were  decidedly 
unfavorable.  Civilians  in  the  Bureau  were  now  displaced  by 
army  officers.  In  July,  1869,  Mr.  Alvord  mentions  decided 
progress  in  educational  returns,  increasing  thirst  for  know 
ledge,  greater  public  favor,  and  the  establishment  of  39  training 
schools  for  teachers,  with  3,377  pupils.  Four  months  later, 
General  Howard  says  "  hostility  to  schools  and  teachers  has 
in  great  measure  ceased."  He  reported  the  cost  of  the  Bureau 


16  EDUCATION   OF   THE   NEGROES   SINCE    1860. 

at  $13,029,816,  and  earnestly  recommended  "the  national 
legislature"  to  establish  a  general  system  of  free  schools, 
u  furnishing  to  all  children  of  a  suitable  age  such  instruction 
in  the  rudiments  of  learning  as  would  fit  them  to  discharge 
intelligently  the  duties  of  free  American  citizens."  Solicitor 
Whiting  had  previously  recommended  that  the  head  of  the 
Freedmen's  Bureau  should  be  a  cabinet  officer,  but  this  was 
not  granted,  and  the  Bureau  was  finally  discontinued — its 
affairs  being  transferred  to  the  War  Department  by  Act  of 
Congress,  June  10,  1872.  It  is  apparent  from  the  reports  of 
Sprague,  Assistant  Commissioner  in  Florida,  and  of  Alvord 
in  1867  and  1870,  that  the  agents  of  the  Bureau  sometimes 
used  their  official  position  and  influence  for  organizing  the 
freed  men  for  party  politics  and  to  control  elections.  A  full 
history  of  the  Freedmen's  Bureau  would  furnish  an  interesting 
chapter  in  negro  education,  but  a  report  from  Inspector 
Sh river  on  October  3,  1873,  says  the  Department  has  "no 
means  of  verifying  the  amount  of  retained  bounty  fund  ;  "  and 
on  December  4,  1873,  the  Department  complains  of  "the 
incomplete  and  disordered  condition  of  the  records  of  the  late 
Bureau."  (See  Ex.  Doc.  No.  10,  43d  Con.,  1st  Ses.,  and  Ho. 
Mis.  Doc.  No.  87,  42cl  Con.,  3d  Ses.) 

That  no  injustice  may  be  done  to  any  one,  the  answer  of 
the  "Record  and  Pension  Office,  War  Department/'  May  21, 
1894,  to  my  application  for  statistics  drawn  from  the  records, 
is  embodied  in  this  paper.  So  far  as  the  writer  has  been  able 
to  investigate,  no  equally  full  and  official  account  has  hereto 
fore  been  given. 

"The  following  consolidated  statement,  prepared  from 
records  of  Superintendents  of  Education  of  the  Bureau  of 
Refugees,  Freedmen,  and  Abandoned  Lands,  shows  the 
number  of  schools,  teachers,  and  pupils  in  each  State,  under 
control  of  said  Bureau,  and  the  amount  expended  for  Schools, 
Asylums,  construction  and  rental  of  school  buildings,  trans 
portation  of  teachers,  purchase  of  books,  etc. : — 


EDUCATION   OF   THE   NEGROES   SINCE    1860.  17 


1865-1866. 

Number  of  Schools 1,264 

Number  of  Teachers 1,793 

Number  of  Pupils 111,193 

Amount  Expended  by  Bureau $  225,722  94 

Received  from  Freedmen 18,500  00 

Received  from  Benevolent  Associations 83,200  00 

1867. 

Number  of  Schools 1,673 

Number  of  Teachers 2,032 

Number  of  Pupils 109,245 

Amount  Expended $  415,330  00 

From  Freedmen 17,200  00 

From  Benevolent  Associations 65,087  00 

1868. 

Number  of  Schools 1,739 

Number  of  Teachers 2,104 

Number  of  Pupils 102,562 

Amount  Expended $  909,210  20 

From  Freedmen -. 42,130  00 

From  Benevolent  Associations 154,736  50 

1869. 

Number  of  Schools 1,942 

Number  of  Teachers 2,472 

Number  of  Pupils 108,485 

Amount  Expended $  591,267  56 

From  Freedmen 85,726  00 

From  Benevolent  Associations 27,200  00 

1870. 

Number  of  Schools 1,900 

Number  of  Teachers 2,376 

Number  of  Pupils 108,135 

Amount  Expended $  480,737  82 

From  Freedmen 17,187  00 

From  Benevolent  Associations.. 4,240  CO 

2 


18  EDUCATION    OF   THE    NEGROES   SINCE    1860. 

"  This  statement  or  statistical  table  is  made  up  from  the 
reports  of  the  Superintendents  of  Education  of  the  several 
States  under  the  control  of  the  Bureau  from  1865  to  1870, 
when  government  aid  to  the  freedraen's  schools  was  with 
drawn.  It  embraces  the  number  of  schools  established  or 
maintained,  the  number  of  teachers  employed,  the  number 
of  pupils,  and  the  amount  expended  for  school  purposes  in 
each  State  and  the  District  of  Columbia.  The  expenditures 
also  include  the  amounts  contributed  by  the  Bureau  for  the 
construction  and  maintenance  of  asylums  for  the  freedmen, 
which  cannot  be  separated  from  the  totals  given. 

"The  table  is  based  upon  the  reports  of  the  School  Superin 
tendents,  and  has  been  prepared  with  great  care.  The  results 
thus  obtained,  however,  differ  in  some  material  respects  from 
the  figures  given  by  the  Commissioner  of  the  Freedmen's 
Bureau  in  his  annual  reports.  These  discrepancies,  which 
this  Department  is  unable  to  reconcile  or  explain,  will  be 
seen  by  a  comparison  of  the  table  with  the  following  state 
ment  made  from  the  reports  of  the  Commissioner  : 


1866. 

Number  of  Schools 975 

Number  of  Teachers 1,405 

Number  of  Pupils 90,778 

Disbursements  for  /School  Purposes. 

By  the  Bureau $  123,659  39 

By  the  Benevolent  Associations 82,200  00 

By  the  Freedmen 18,500  00 


Total $224,359  39 


1867. 

Number  of  Schools 1,839 

Number  of  Teachers 2,087 

Number  of  Pupils 111,442 


EDU CATION   OF   THE   NEGROES   SINCE    1860.  19 


Disbursements  for  School  Purposes. 

By  the  Bureau $  531,345  48 

By  the  Benevolent  Associations 65,087  01 

By  the  Freedmen 17,200  00 


Total $613,632  49 

1868. 

Number  of  Schools 1,831 

Number  of  Teachers 2,295 

Number  of  Pupils 104,327 

Disbursements  for  School  Purposes. 

By  the  Bureau $    965,896  67 

By  Benevolent  Associations 700.0CO  00 

By  the  Freedmen  [est'd] 360,000  00 


Total $2,025,896  67 


1869. 

Number  of  Schools 2,118 

Number  of  Teachers 2,455 

Number  of  Pupils 114,522 

Disbursements  for  School  Purposes. 

By  the  Bureau $  924,182  16 

By  Benevolent  Associations 365,000  00 

By  the  Freedmen  [est'd] 190,000  00 

Total $1,479,182  16 


1870. 

Number  of  Schools 2,677 

Number  of  Teachers 3,300 

Number  of  Pupils 149,581 

Disbursements  for  School  Purposes. 

By  the  Bureau $  976,853  29 

By  Benevolent  Associations 360,000  00 

By  the  Freedmen  [est'd] 200,000  00 

Total §1,536,853  29 


20  EDUCATION   OF   THE   NEGROES   SINCE    1860. 

"It  has  been  found  impracticable  to  ascertain  the  amounts 
expended  by  the  Freedmen's  Bureau  for  Howard  and  Fisk 
Universities  and  the  schools  at  Hampton,  Atlanta,  and  New 
Orleans,  the  items  of  expenditure  for  these  schools  not  being 
separated  in  the  reports  from  the  gross  expenditures  for  school 
purposes." 

A  committee  of  investigation  upon  General  Howard's  use 
of  the  Bureau  for  his  pecuniary  aggrandizement  were  divided 
in  opinion,  but  a  large  majority  exonerated  him  from  censure 
and  commended  him  for  the  excellent  performance  of  difficult 
duties.  An  equally  strong  and  unanimous  verdict  of  approval 
was  rendered  by  a  Court  of  Inquiry,  General  Sherman  presid 
ing,  which  was  convened  under  an  Act  of  Congress,  Feb 
ruary  13,  1874. 

V.  It  has  been  stated  that  the  Bureau  was  authorized  to 
act  in  cooperation  with  benevolent  or  religious  societies  in  the 
education  of  the  negroes.  A  number  of  these  organizations 
had  done  good  service  before  the  establishment  of  the  Bureau 
and  continued  their  work  afterwards.  The  teachers  earliest 
in  the  field  were  from  the  American  Missionary  Association, 
Western  Freed  men's  Aid  Commission,  American  Baptist 
Home  Mission  Society,  and  the  Society  of  Friends.  After 
the  surrender  of  Vicksburg  and  the  occupation  of  Natchez, 
others  were  sent  by  the  United  Presbyterians,  Keformed  Pres 
byterians,  United  Brethren  in  Christ,  Northwestern  Freed- 
men's  Aid  Commission,  and  the  National  Freedmen's  Aid 
Association.  The  first  colored  school  in  Vicksburg  was  started 
in  1863  by  the  United  Brethren  in  the  basement  of  a  Metho 
dist  church. 

The  American  Missionary  Association  was  the  chief  body, 
apart  from  the  Government,  in  the  great  enterprise  of  meeting 
the  needs  of  the  negroes.  It  did  not  relinquish  its  philan 
thropic  work  because  army  officers  and  the  Federal  Govern 
ment  were  working  along  the  same  line.  Up  to  1866  its 


EDUCATION   OF   THE   NEGROES   SINCE    1860.  21 

receipts  were  swollen  by  "  the  aid  of  the  Free  Will  Baptists, 
the  Wesleyans,  the  Congregationallsts,  and  friends  in  Great 
Britain."  From  Great  Britain  it  is  estimated  that  "a  million 
of  dollars  in  money  and  clothing  were  contributed  through 
various  channels  for  the  freedmen."  The  third  decade  of  the 
Association,  1867-1876,  was  a  marked  era  in  its  financial 
history.  The  Freedmen's  Bureau  turned  over  a  large  sum, 
which  could  be  expended  only  in  buildings.  A  congressional 
report  says  that  between  December,  1866,  and  May,  1870,  the 
Association  received  $243,753.22.  Since  the  Association  took 
on  a  more  distinctive  and  separate  denominational  character, 
because  of  the  withdrawal  of  other  denominations  into  organi 
zations  of  their  own,  it,  along  with  its  church  work,  has 
prosecuted,  with  unabated  energy  and  marked  success,  its 
educational  work  among  the  negroes.  It  has  now  under  its 
control  or  support — 

Chartered  Institutions 6 

Normal  Schools 29 

Common  Schools 43 

TOTALS. 

Schools 78 

Instructors 389 

Pupils 12,609 

PUPILS  CLASSIFIED. 

Theological 47 

Collegiate 57 

College  Preparatory 192 

Normal 1,091 

Grammar 2,378 

Intermediate 3,692 

Primary 5,152 

Some  of  these  schools  are  not  specially  for  negroes.  It 
would  be  unjust  not  to  give  the  Association  much  credit  for 
Atlanta  University  and  for  Hampton  Normal  and  Industrial 
Institute,  which  are  not  included  in  the  above  recapitulation, 


22  EDUCATION    OF   THE    NEGROES    SINCE    1860. 

as  the  latter  stands  easily  first  among  all  the  institutions 
designed  for  negro  development,  both  for  influence  and  use 
fulness.  During  the  war  and  fur  a  time  afterwards.,  the  school 
work  of  the  Association  was  necessarily  primary  and  transi 
tional,  but  it  grew  into  larger  proportions,  with  higher  stand 
ards,  and  its  normal  and  industrial  work  deserves  special 
mention  and  commendation.  From  1860  to  October  1,  1893, 
its  expenditures  in  the  South  for  freed  men,  directly  and  indi 
rectly,  including  church  extension  as  well  as  education,  have 
been  $11,610,000. 

VI.  In  1866  was  organized  "The  Freedmen's  Aid  and 
Southern  Society  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church."    Under 
that  compact,  powerful,  well-disciplined,  enthusiastic  organi 
zation,   more  than    $6,000,000    have   been   expended   in   the 
work  of  education  of  negroes.     Dr.  Hartzell  said,  before  the 
World's  Congress  in  Chicago,  that  Wilberforce  University,  at 
Xenia,  Ohio,  was  established  in  1857  as  a  college  for  colored 
people,  and  "continues  to  be  the  chief  educational  centre  of 
African  Methodism  in  the  United  States/'     He  reports,  as 
under  various  branches  of  Methodism,  65  institutions  of  learn 
ing    for    colored     people,    388    teachers,    10,100    students, 
§1,905,150  of  property,  and  $652,500  of  endowment.    Among 
these  is  Meharry  Medical  College  of  high  standard  and  excel 
lent  discipline,  with  dental  and  pharmaceutical  departments 
as  well   as  medical.     Near   200   students  have  been   gradu 
ated.      The  School  of  Mechanic  Arts  in  Central  Tennessee 
College,  under  the  management  of  Professor  Sedgwick,  has  a 
fine  outfit,  and  has  turned  out  telescopes  and  other  instru 
ments,  which  command  a  ready  and  remunerative  market  in 
this  and  other  countries. 

VII.  On  April   16,  1862,  slavery  was  abolished   in  the 
District  of  Columbia.     By  November,  13,000  refugees  had 
collected  at  Washington,  Alexandria,  Hampton,  and  Norfolk. 


EDUCATION    OF   THE   NEGROES   SINCE    1860.  23 

Under  an  unparalleled  exigency,  instant  action  was  necessary. 
The  lack  of  educational  privileges  led  Christian  societies  to 
engage  in  educational  work,  at  least  in  the  rudiments  of 
learning,  For  the  benefit  of  these  people,  who  were  eso-ov  to 
be  instructed.  Even  where  education  had  not  previously 
been  a  part  of  the  functions  of  certain  organizations,  the 
imperative  need  of  the  liberated  left  no  option  as  to  duty. 
With  the  assistance  of  the  Baptist  Free  Mission  Society  and 
of  the  Baptist  Home  Mission  Society,  schools  were  estab 
lished  in  Alexandria  as  early  as  January  1,  1802,  and  were 
multiplied  through  succeeding  years.  After  Appomatox,  the 
Baptist  Home  Mission  Society  was  formally  and  deliberately 
committed  to  the  education  of  the  blacks,  giving  itself  largely 
to  the  training  of  teachers  and  preachers.  In  May,  1892, 
the  Society  had,  under  its  management,  24  schools  with  216 
instructors,  4,861  pupils,  of  whom  1,756  were  preparing  to 
teach,  school  property  worth  $750,000  and  endowment  funds 
of  $156,000.  Probably,  not  less  than  50,000  have  attended 
the  various  schools.  Since  1860,  $2,451,859.65  have  been 
expended  for  th^  henefit  of  the  negroes.  The  Superintendent 
of  Education  says :  "  The  aggregate  amount  appropriated  for  the 
salaries  of  teachers  from  the  time  the  Society  commenced  its  work 
until  January,  1883,  was :— District  of  Columbia,  $59,243.57  ; 
Virginia,  $65,254.44;  North  Carolina,  $41, 788.90;  South  Caro 
lina,  $29,683.71;  Florida,  $3,164.16;  Georgia,  $26,963.21; 
Alabama,  $4,960.37;  Mississippi,  $6,611.05;  Louisiana, 
$39,168.25;  Texas,  $2,272.18;  Arkansas,  $150;  Tennessee, 
$57,898.86  ;  Kentucky,  $1,092.54  ;  Missouri,  $300.  The  fol 
lowing  gives  the  aggregate  amount  appropriated  for  teachers 
and  for  all  other  purposes  such  as  land,  buildings,  etc., 
from  January,  1883,  to  January,  1893  : — District  of  Colum 
bia,  $103,110.01;  Virginia,  $193,974.08;  North  Carolina, 
$142,861.95;  South  Carolina,  $137,157.79;  Florida,  $55,- 
923.96;  Georgia,  $314,061.48;  Alabama,  $35,405.86;  Mis 
sissippi,  $86,019.70;  Louisiana,  $33,720.93;  Texas,  $131,- 
225.27;  Arkansas,  $13,206.20;  Tennessee,  $164,514.05; 


24  EDUCATION   OF   THE   NEGROES   SINCE    1860. 

Kentucky,  $49,798.56;  Missouri,  $6,543.13.  Until  Janu 
ary,  1883,  the  appropriations  for  teachers  and  for  lands, 
buildings,  etc.,  were  kept  as  separate  items.  I  have  already 
given  the  appropriations  for  the  teachers  up  to  that  date. 
For  grounds  and  buildings,  $421,119.50  were  appropriated/7 
In  connection  with  the  Spelman  Seminary  and  the  Male 
School  in  Atlanta,  there  has  been  established,  under  intelligent 
and  discriminating  rules,  a  first  class  training  department  for 
teachers.  A  new  commodious  structure  well  adapted  to  the 
purpose,  costing  $55,000,  was  opened  in  December.  At 
Spelman  there  is  an  admirable  training  school  for  nurses, 
where  the  pupils  have  hospital  practice.  Shaw  University 
at  Raleigh  has  the  flourishing  Leonard  Medical  School  and 
a  well  equipped  pharmacy. 

VIII.  The  Presbyterian  Church  at  the  North,  in  May, 
1865,  adopted  a  deliverance  in   favor  of  special  efforts  in 
behalf  of  the   "  lately   enslaved   African   race."     From   the 
28th  annual  report  of  the  Board  of  Missions  for  Freed  men, 
it  appears  that,  besides  building  churches,  special  exertions 
have   been  put   forth  "  in  establishing   parochial   schools,  in 
planting   academies   and   seminaries,  in   equipping  and   sup 
porting  a  large  and  growing  university."     The  report  men 
tions  fifteen  schools, — three  in  North  Carolina,  four  in  South 
Carolina,  three  in  Arkansas,  and  one  in  each  of  the  States 
of    Texas,    Mississippi,  Virginia,    Georgia,   and    Tennessee. 
$1,280,000    have   been    spent.     "In    the    high  schools   and 
parochial    schools,   we    have   (May,    1893)    10,520   students 
who  are  being  daily  moulded  under  Presbyterian  educational 
influence."      The   United    Presbyterian   Church   reports   for 
May,  1893,  an  enrollment  in  schools  of  2,558.     The  Southern 
Presbyterians  have  a  Theological  Seminary  in  Birmingham, 
Alabama,  which  was  first  opened  in  Tuskaloosa  in  1877. 

IX.  The  Episcopal  Church,  through  the  Commission  on 
Church  Work  among  the  Colored  People,  during  the  seven 


EDUCATION    OF   THE    NEGROES   SINCE    1860.  25 

years  of  its  existence,  1887-1893,  has  expended  $272,068, 
but  the  expenditure  is  fairly  apportioned  between  ministerial 
and  teaching  purposes.  The  schools  are  parochial  "  with  an 
element  of  industrial  training,"  and  are  located  in  Maryland, 
Virginia,  North  Carolina,  Tennessee,  and  Alabama,  but  the 
"Reports"  do  not  give  the  number  of  teachers  and  scholars. 
The  Friends  have  some  well  conducted  schools,  notably  the 
Sehofield  in  Aiken,  South  Carolina.  They  have  sustained 
over  100  schools  and  have  spent  §1,004,129.  In  the  mission 
work  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  among  the  negroes, 
school  work  and  church  work  are  so  blended  that  it  has  been 
very  difficult  to  make  a  clear  separation.  Schools  exist  in 
Baltimore,  Washington,  and  all  the  Southern  States,  but  with 
how  many  teachers  and  pupils  and  at  what  cost  the  Report  of 
the  Commission  for  1893  does  not  show.  A  few  extracts  are 
given.  "  We  need,"  says  one, "  all  the  help  possible  to  cope  with 
the  Public  Schools  of  Washington.  In  fact  our  school  facilities 
are  poor,  and,  unless  we  can  do  something  to  invite  children 
to  our  Catholic  Schools,  many  of  them  will  lose  their  faith." 
Another  person  writes :  "  Next  year  we  shall  have  to  exert 
all  the  influence  in  our  power  to  hold  our  school.  Within 
two  doors  of  our  school  a  large  public  school  building  is 
being  erected  ;  this  new  public  school  building  will  draw 
pupils  away  from  the  Catholic  School,  unless  the  latter  be 
made  equally  efficient  in  its  work." 

X.  On  February  6,  1867,  George  Peabody  gave  to  cer 
tain  gentlemen  two  million  dollars  in  trust,  to  be  used  "  for 
the  promotion  and  encouragement  of  intellectual,  moral,  or 
industrial  education  among  the  young  of  the  more  destitute 
portions  of  the  Southwestern  States  of  our  Union."  This  gift 
embraced  both  races,  and  Dr.  Barnas  Sears  was  fortunately 
selected  as  the  General  Agent,  to  whom  was  committed  prac 
tically  the  administration  of  the  Trust.  In  his  first  report 
he  remarked  that,  in  many  of  the  cities  aided  by  the  Fund, 
provision  was  made  for  the  children  of  both  races,  but  said 


26  EDUCATION   OF   THE   NEGROES   SINCE    1860. 

that,  as  the  subject  of  making  equal  provision  for  the  educa 
tion  of  both  races  was  occupying  public  attention,  he  thought 
it  the  safer  and  wiser  course  not  to  set  up  schools  on  a  pre 
carious  foundation,  but  to  confine  help  to  public  schools  and 
make  efforts  in  all  suitable  ways  to  improve  or  have  established 
State  systems  of  education.  Still,  in  some  localities  aid  was 
judiciously  given,  and  the  United  States  Superintendent  of 
Education  for  the  negroes  in  North  Carolina  gave  testimony 
that  but  for  the  Peabody  aid  many  of  the  colored  schools 
would  be  closed.  "  Our  Superintendents  have  aided  largely 
in  distributing  the  Peabody  Fund  in  nearly  all  the  States." 
"Great  good  has  thereby  been  accomplished  at  very  little 
added  expense."  The  Peabody  Fund  bent  its  energies  and 
directed  its  policy  towards  securing  the  establishment  of  State 
systems  of  education  which  should  make  adequate  and  per 
manent  provision  for  universal  education.  State  authorities 
would  have  more  power  and  general  influence  than  individuals, 
or  denominational  or  private  corporations.  They  represent 
the  whole  people,  are  held  to  a  strict  accountability,  protect 
"from  the  charge  of  sectarianism  and  from  the  liability  of 
being  overreached  by  interested  parties."  State  systems, 
besides,  have  a  continuous  life  and  are  founded  on  the  just 
principle  that  property  is  taxable  for  the  maintenance  of 
general  education.  The  Fund  now  acts  exclusively  with 
State  systems,  and  continues  support  to  the  negroes  more 
efficiently  through  such  agencies. 

XL  Congress,  by  land  grants  since  1860,  has  furnished 
to  the  Southern  States  substantial  aid  in  the  work  of  Agri 
cultural  and  Mechanical  education.  On  March  2,  1867,  the 
Bureau  of  Education  was  established  for  the  collection  and 
diffusion  of  information.  This  limited  sphere  of  work  has 
been  so  interpreted  and  cultivated  that  the  Bureau,  under  its 
able  Commissioners,  especially  under  the  leadership  of  that 
most  accomplished  American  educator,  Dr.  W.  T.  Harris, 
has  become  one  of  the  most  efficient  and  intelligent  educational 


EDUCATION    OF    THE    NEGROES    SINCE    1860.  27 

agencies  on  the  coDtinent.  To  the  general  survey  of  the 
educational  field  and  comparative  exhibits  of  the  position  of 
the  United  States  and  other  enlightened  countries,  have  been 
added  discussions  by  specialists,  and  papers  on  the  various 
phases  of  educational  life,  produced  by  the  incorporation  of 
diverse  races  into  our  national  life  or  citizenship.  The  Annual 
Reports  and  Circulars  of  Information  contain  a  vast  mass  of 
facts  and  studies  in  reference  to  the  colored  people,  and  a  digest 
and  collaboration  of  them  would  give  the  most  complete  his 
tory  that  could  be  prepared. 

The  Bureau  and  the  Peabody  Education  Fund  have  bean 
most  helpful  allies  in  making  suggestions  in  relation  to  legis 
lation  in  school  matters,  and  giving,  in  intelligible,  practical 
form,  the  experiences  of  other  States,  home  and  foreign,  in 
devising  and  perfecting  educational  systems.  All  the  States 
of  the  South,  as  soon  as  they  recovered  their  governments,  put 
in  operation  systems  of  public  schools  which  gave  equal 
opportunities  and  privileges  to  both  races.  It  would  be  sin 
gularly  unjust  not  to  consider  the  difficulties,  social,  political, 
and  pecuniary,  which  embarrassed  the  South  in  the  efforts  to 
inaugurate  free  education.  It  required  unusual  heroism  to 
adapt  to  the  new  conditions,  but  she  was  equal  in  fidelity  and 
energy  to  what  was  demanded  for  the  reconstruction  of  society 
and  civil  institutions.  The  complete  enfranchisement  of  the 
negroes  and  their  new  political  relations,  as  the  result  of  the 
war  and  the  new  amendments  to  the  Constitution,  necessitated 
an  entire  reorganization  of  the  systems  of  public  education. 
To  realize  what  has  been  accomplished  is  difficult,  at  best — 
impossible,  unless  we  estimate  sufficiently  the  obstacles  and 
compare  the  facilities  of  to-day  with  the  ignorance  and  bondage 
of  a  generation  ago,  when  some  statutes  made  it  an  indictable 
offence  to  teach  a  slave  or  free  person  of  color.  Comparisons 
with  densely  populated  sections  are  misleading,  for  in  the 
South  the  sparseness  and  poverty  of  the  population  are  almost 
a  preventive  of  good  schools.  Still  the  results  have  been 
marvellous.  Out  of  448  cities  in  the  United  States,  with  a 
population  each  of  8,000  and  over,  only  7^  are  in  the  South. 


EDUCATION   OF   THE    NEGROES   SINCE    1860. 

Of  28,  with  a  population  from  100,000  to  1,500,000,  only  2 
(St.  Louis  being  excluded)  are  in  the  South.  Of  96,  with 
a  population  between  25,000  and  100,000,  17  are  in  the 
South.  The  urban  population  is  comparatively  small,  and 
agriculture  is  the  chief  occupation.  Of  858,000  negroes  in 
Georgia,  130,000  are  in  cities  and  towns,  and  728,000  in 
the  country  ;  in  Mississippi,  urban  colored  population, 
42,000,  rural,  700,000;  in  South  Carolina,  urban,  74,000, 
rural,  615,000;  in  North  Carolina,  urban,  66,000,  against 
498,000  rural;  in  Alabama,  65,000  against  613,000;  in 
Louisiana,  93,000  against  466,000.  The  schools  for  colored 
children  are  maintained  on  an  average  89.2  days  in  a  year,  and 
for  white  children  98.6,  but  the  preponderance  of  the  white 
over  the  black  race,  in  towns  and  cities,  helps  in  part  to 
explain  the  difference.  While  the  colored  population  supplies 
less  than  its  due  proportion  of  pupils  to  the  public  schools, 
and  the  regularity  of  attendance  is  less  than  with  the  white, 
yet  the  difference  in  length  of  school  term  in  schools  for  white 
and  schools  for  black  children  is  trifling.  In  the  same  grades 
the  wages  of  teachers  are  about  the  same.  The  annual  State 
school  revenue  is  apportioned  impartially  among  white  and 
black  children,  so  much  per  capita  to  each  child.  In  the 
rural  districts  the  colored  people  are  dependent  chiefly  upon 
the  State  apportionment,  which  is  by  law  devoted  mainly  to 
the  payment  of  teachers'  salaries.  Hence,  the  school-houses 
and  other  conveniences  in  the  country  for  the  negroes  are 
inferior,  but  in  the  cities  the  appropriation  for  schools  is  gen 
eral  and  is  allotted  to  white  and  colored,  according  to  the 
needs  of  each.  A  small  proportion  of  the  school  fund  comes 
from  colored  sources.  All  the  States  do  not  discriminate 
in  assessments  of  taxable  property,  but  in  Georgia,  where  the 
ownership  is  ascertained,  the  negroes  returned  in  1892 
$14.869,575  of  taxable  property  against  $448,883,959  re 
turned  by  white  owners.  The  amount  of  property  listed  for 
taxation  in  North  Carolina  in  1891  was,  by  white  citizens, 
$231,109,568;  by  colored  citizens,  §8,018,446.  To  an  in 
quiry  for  official  data,  the  auditor  of  the  State  of  Virginia 


EDUCATION    OF   THE    NEGROES    SINCE    1860. 


29 


says:  "The  taxes  collected  in  1891  from  white  citizens  were 
$2,991,646.24,  and  from  the  colored,  §163,175.67.  The 
amount  paid  for  public  schools  for  whites,  $588,564.87 ;  for 
negroes,  $309,364.15.  Add  $15,000  for  Colored  Normal  and 
$80,000  for  colored  lunatic  asylum.  Apportioning  the  crimi 
nal  expenses  between  the  white  and  the  colored  people  in  the 
ratio  of  convicts  of  each  race  received  into  the  Penitentiary 
in  1891,  and  it  shows  that  the  criminal  expenses  put  upon 
the  State  annually  by  the  whites  are  $55,749.57  and  by  the 
negroes  $204,018.99." 

Of  the  desire  of  the  colored  people  for  education  the  proof 
is  conclusive,  and  of  their  capacity  to  receive  mental  culture 
there  is  not  the  shade  of  a  reason  to  support  an  adverse 
hypothesis.  The  Bureau  of  Education  furnishes  the  following 
suggestive  table  : 

SIXTEEN  FORMER  SLAVE  STATES  AND  THE  DISTRICT  OF  COLUMBIA. 


Year. 

Common-School  Enrollment. 

Expenditures. 

White. 

Colored. 

Both  Races. 

1876-77.. 

1,827,139 
2,034,946 
2,013,684 
2,215,674 
2,234,877 
2,249,263 
2,370,110 
2,546,448 
2,676,911 
2,773,145 
2,975,773 
3,110,606 
3,197,830 
3,402,420 
3,570,624 
3,607,549 

571,506 
675,150 
685,942 
784,709 
802,374 
802.982 
817,240 
1,002,313 
1,030,463 
1,048,659 
1,118,556 
1,140,405 
1,213,092 
1/296,959 
1,329,549 
1.354,316 

$11,231,073 
12,093,091 
12,174,141 

12,678,685 
13,656,814 
15,241,740 
16,363,471 
17,884,558 
19,253,874 
20,208,113 
20,821,969 
21,810,158 
23,171,878 
24,880,107 
26,690,310 
27,691,488 

1877-78  

1878-79  

1879-80 

1880-81  

1881-82  

1882-83  

1883-84  

1884-85 

1885-86 

1886-87  

1887-88  

1888-89  

1889-90 

1890-91 

1891-92 

Total  amount  expended  in  16  years,  $295,851,470. 

In  1890-91  there  were  79,962  white  teachers  and  24,150 
colored.  To  the  enrollment  in  common  schools  should  be 
added  30,000  colored  children,  who  are  in  normal  or  secondary 


30  EDUCATION    OF   THE    NEGKOES    SINCE    1860. 

schools.  The  amount  expended  for  education  of  negroes  is 
not  stated  separately,  but  Dr.  W.  T.  Harris  estimates  that  there 
must  have  been  nearly  $75,000,000  expended  by  the  Southern 
States,  in  addition  to  what  has  been  contributed  by  missionary 
and  philanthropic  sources.  In  Virginia,  North  Carolina, 
Georgia,  Florida,  Alabama,  Mississippi,  Louisiana,  Texas, 
and  Arkansas,  annual  grants  are  made  for  the  support  of 
colored  normal  and  industrial  schools. 

The  negroes  must  rely  very  largely  upon  the  public  schools 
for  their  education,  and  so  they  should.  They  are,  and  will 
continue  to  be,  the  most  efficient  factors  for  uplifting  the  race. 
The  States,  at  immense  sacrifice,  with  impartial  liberality,  have 
taxed  themselves  for  a  population  which  contributes  very  little 
to  the  State  revenues,  and  nothing  could  be  done  more  prejudicial 
to  the  educational  interests  of  the  colored  people  than  to  indulge 
in  any  hostility  or  indifference  to,  or  neglect  of,  these  free  schools. 
Denominations  and  individuals  can  do  nothing  more  harmful 
to  the  race  than  to  foster  opposition  to  the  public  schools. 

XII.  A  potential  agency  in  enlightening  public  opinion  and 
in  working  out  the  problem  of  the  education  of  the  negro  has 
been  the  John  F.  Slater  Fund.  "In  view  of  the  apprehen 
sions  felt  by  all  thoughtful  persons,"  when  the  duties  and 
privileges  of  citizenship  were  suddenly  thrust  upon  millions 
of  lately  emancipated  slaves,  Mr.  Slater  conceived  the  purpose 
of  giving  a  large  sum  of  money  to  their  proper  education. 
After  deliberate  reflection  and  much  conference,  he  selected  a 
Board  of  Trust  and  placed  in  their  hands  a  million  of  dollars. 
This  unique  gift,  originating  wholly  with  himself,  and  elabo 
rated  in  his  own  mind  in  most  of  its  details,  was  for  "the 
uplifting  of  the  lately  emancipated  population  of  the  Southern 
States  and  their  posterity,  by  conferring  on  them  the  blessings 
of  Christian  education."  "Not  only  for  their  own  sake,  but 
also  for  the  sake  of  our  common  country/7  he  sought  to  pro 
vide  "  the  means  of  such  education  as  shall  tend  to  make  them 
good  men  and  good  citizens,"  associating  the  instruction  of  the 
mind  "  with  training  in  just  notions  of  duty  toward  God  and 


EDUCATION    OF   THE   NEGROES   SINCE    1860.  31 

man,  in  the  light  of  the  Holy  Scriptures."  Leaving  to  the 
corporation  the  largest  discretion  and  liberty,  in  the  prosecu 
tion  of  the  general  object,  as  described  in  his  Letter  of  Trust, 
he  yet  indicated  as  "lines  of  operation  adapted  to  the  condi 
tion  of  things"  the  encouragement  of  "institutions  as  are 
most  effectually  useful  in  promoting  the  training  of  teachers." 
The  Trust  was  to  be  administered  "in  no  partisan,  sectional, 
or  sectarian  spirit,  but  in  the  interest  of  a  generous  patriotism 
and  an  enlightened  Christian  spirit."  Soon  after  organization 
the  Trustees  expressed  very  strongly  their  judgment  that  the 
scholars  should  be  "  trained  in  some  manual  occupation, 
simultaneously  with  their  mental  and  moral  instruction,"  and 
aid  was  confined  to  such  institutions  as  gave  "  instruction  in 
trades  and  other  manual  occupations,"  that  the  pupils  might 
obtain  an  intelligent  mastery  of  the  indispensable  elements  of 
industrial  success.  So  repeated  have  been  similar  declarations 
on  the  part  of  the  Trustees  and  the  General  Agents  that  man 
ual  training,  or  education  in  industries,  may  be  regarded  as 
an  unalterable  policy;  but  only  such  institutions  were  to  be 
aided  as  were,  "  with  good  reason,  believed  to  be  on  a  perma 
nent  basis."  Mr.  Slater  explained  "  Christian  Education," 
as  used  in  his  Letter  of  Gift,  to  be  teaching,  "leavened  with 
a  predominant  and  salutary  Christian  influence,"  such  as  was 
found  in  "  the  common  school  teaching  of  Massachusetts  and 
Connecticut,"  and  that  there  was  "no  need  of  limiting  the 
gifts  of  the  Fund  to  denominational  institutions."  Since  the 
first  appropriation,  near  fifty  different  institutions  have  been 
aided,  in  sums  ranging  from  $500  to  $5,000.  As  required  by 
the  Founder,  neither  principal  nor  income  is  expended  for 
land  or  buildings.  For  a  few  years  aid  was  given  in  buying 
machinery  or  apparatus,  but  now  the  income  is  applied  almost 
exclusively  to  paying  the  salaries  of  teachers  engaged  in  the  nor 
mal  or  industrial  work.  The  number  of  aided  institutions  has 
been  lessened,  with  the  view  of  concentrating  and  making  more 
effective  the  aid  and  of  improving  the  instruction  in  normal  and 
industrial  work.  The  table  appended  presents  a  summary  of  the 
appropriations  which  have  been  made  from  year  to  year. 


32 


EDUCATION   OF   THE   NEGROES   SINCE    1860. 


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